On a hike near Viento State Park in the
Columbia Gorge, I found this forest of twisted Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana)
trees in the fall of 2000. The delicate colors and bent trunks made a
captivating scene. In this area of the gorge, a variety of tree species
mix in unusual ways. In the distance is a slope of Douglas fir and cedar,
typically found in a wetter climate, while the oaks prefer drier conditions and
more sunshine. The red and yellow shrubs in the foreground are Creambush
Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), a common understory plant in
low-elevation forests of the area. Although I have returned to the
area several times since I took this photograph, I have yet to find the colors
as beautiful as they were in 2000.

An important effect of healthy forests such as the one above is removal of
moisture from the air and incorporation into the water table. The most
telling example of this effect was the deforestation of Easter Island by its
native peoples. When the trees were cut down, the rains stopped and the
island became a desert. So deforestation can create drought in the
immediate area of the logging as well as downwind or regionwide. The
drought increases fire danger and can result in further loss of tree cover from
fire. Trees seem to play an important hydrologic buffering role in that when
cool, moist air comes in over a forest the trees extract moisture and dry the
air, preventing flooding and adding water to the soil. On other days when the
air is warmer and drier and the soil is wet (from storms or snowmelt), the trees
transfer moisture to the air and help to reduce drought as well as keep the soil
moisture levels at optimum. This phenomenon is well known in the Pacific
Northwest where I live, where on a stormy day clouds are clearly visible on
forested slopes and less prevalent on rocky or logged ones.

The balance between trees removing moisture from air vs. adding it to the air
via transpiration is undoubtedly complex, but within all that are likely some
important effects that have huge implications for the environmental movement and
for the people dependent on water. Farmers, for instance, may find that
their ability to obtain water for crops depends on how much forest has been
cleared from areas where prevailing weather passes before arriving at their
farms. Called "land-use forcing," this is a relatively new area
of study for climatology, driven in part by understanding the relative
contributions to climate change from greenhouse gas production and land-use
decisions. There is mounting evidence that reducing carbon emissions alone
(1) may
not be enough to stop human-caused climate change; we may also need to be more
responsible about preserving forests.

Forests tend to be a difficult subject for color photography as they usually
have a lot of shadows along with small areas of highlights that make correct
exposure challenging. Large numbers of trees can make camera placement a
problem, and the tree canopy often blocks light that would open up the
scene. The best light for forest photos tends to be from the side because
it lights up tree trunks and accentuates bark patterns. Side light is rare
in a deep forest. It's often found near a clearing, river, lake, or
hillside.

Due to the wide contrast range it took a lot of work to bring out the shadow
detail of the tree trunks so that the impression matched what I saw at the
time. I came back to the image several times over the last few years,
refining it again and again until I got a pleasing result.

This photograph is best appreciated in larger sizes as there is a lot of
detail in the tree branches and moss-covered trunks.